by M. R. Forbes
“Queenie was able to force them back into our phase with the Gift,” Jequn said.
“Only for a second,” Benhil said.
“When it passed through them,” Gant said. “It’s all starting to make more sense.”
“It is?” Bastion said.
“Yes. As long as we can accept a theory that the naniates are phased, too.”
“They are?” Jequn said.
“Think about it. You said the Seraphim used the Focus to wreck the galaxy and deny the Nephilim. How else could something material, no matter how small, be distributed instantly across potentially infinite distances?”
“Teleportation,” Jequn replied, as though the answer was obvious.
“Possible, but I don’t think so,” Gant said. “Not at that scale. I’m leaning more toward time dilation.”
“Time dilation?” Phlenel said. “You mean time isn’t relative across universes?”
“Exactly. The naniates shift into an accelerated parallel universe. They cross the distance between point A and point B, and then they shift back. To us, it seems instant. Who knows how much time has passed to them?”
“That sounds impossible,” Bastion said.
“Like magic,” Pik agreed.
“I thought we weren’t going there anymore?” Gant said. “It isn’t magic. It’s science. Technology based on an understanding of the universe around us that we’re nowhere near achieving.”
“Okay, I’ll buy in,” Benhil said. “Let’s say you’re right. Let’s say everything is phase shitting around us.”
“Phase shifting,” Gant corrected.
“Yup,” Benhil said. “The Gift, these assholes. We can’t touch them because they’re in a parallel dimension. Our right eye instead of our left eye.”
“Correct.”
“How do we force them into our left eye?”
“I’m going to stretch a little further,” Gant said. “The reason the Gift forces the assholes to come into view is because when it’s phased it collides with them and that collision causes both to shift.”
“Uh. Yeah. Sure. Makes sense, I guess.” Benhil shrugged.
“So to make them phase into our reality, all we would need to do is force a particle collision across parallel dimensions.” Gant looked at them. “Right?”
There was a moment of silence as the Rejects absorbed the statement. Then Pik started to laugh.
“Is that all, freak-monkey?” Bastion said. “No problem. I happen to have just the thing right here up my ass. Let me pull it out.”
“We’re screwed,” Benhil said. “And so is Queenie.”
“Should we take another vote on whether to stay or go?” Uriel asked.
“No votes,” Gant said. “We’re staying.”
“You’re the brains of this outfit,” Bastion said. “Do you have any idea how to make a thingie that can do what you just said?”
Gant bared his teeth in what passed as a smile. “Actually, I do.”
39
“What are we doing here?” Bastion asked as Gant led them into the storage room filled with the crystals.
“Collecting supplies,” Gant replied.
“Here?”
“The Seraphim used these for something, right? Queenie told me about her experience with the other Shard. These crystals were in a pool of liquid, the vibrations opening a link from one universe to another.”
“Okay,” Bastion said. “So?”
“The drones protecting the Shardship were also affected by resonance. Vibrations. It stands to reason that the Seraphim tech is related.”
“But the Gift isn’t Seraphim tech,” Jequn said. “It came from the One.”
“And the Shard gave you schematics on how to integrate the naniates into the teleporters. A marriage of One tech and Seraphim tech.”
“The teleporters don’t phase,” Uriel said.
“No, but thanks to the Shard they do output energy in a highly controlled manner. I was able to amplify the strength of that output to increase the transport distance. What if we can use that same control to cause the crystals to resonate? If that resonance can open channels to other universes, maybe it can also bring them into matching phase.”
“There have to be fifty different kinds here. How do we know which ones are for what?”
“We don’t. We’ll have to use all of them and see what happens.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Do I look like I’m kidding?”
“You always look like that,” Bastion said. “How do we know we aren’t going to make things worse?”
“Again, we don’t. But it might be our only shot at helping Queenie.”
“Assuming she’s still alive,” Uriel said. “She won’t respond to the comm. Do you think she escaped from those things?”
“Ruby,” Gant said, calling on the synth.
“Yes, Gant?” Ruby replied.
“We got split up from Queenie and Void. Are you able to track their TCUs?”
“Negative.”
The word felt like a fresh punch in his gut. He balled his hand into a fist, fighting to keep his emotions in check.
“They may have moved further into the ship, beyond our reach,” Ruby offered.
“I hope so,” Gant replied. He wouldn’t be able to stay in control any other way. “Help me collect samples,” he said to the Rejects. “One of each of the crystals.”
“Does size matter?” Phlenel asked.
“Size always matters,” Pik said.
“No,” Gant replied. “Smaller is better. It’s easier to carry.”
The Rejects started going through the compartments, locating the different colored crystals and placing them in a line on the floor. It felt to Gant as though it was taking forever.
Everything felt like it was taking forever. It seemed to be his destiny to keep getting separated from his alpha, to keep having to worry that she was dead, knowing what the consequences would be for him, and likely for them all.
He told himself she had escaped and was still alive. She was no easy kill, and she had Trinity with her.
“Hey, Gant,” Pik said. “I think we have a problem.” He was standing next to one of the compartments.
“What do you mean?” Gant said.
“This one’s empty.”
“Empty?”
“Yeah. I guess they used it all up?”
“You know that’s the one we need then, right?” Bastion said. “That’s just how our luck is going.”
“I don’t believe in luck,” Gant said. “Forget it, just gather the rest.”
Gant leaned over the teleporter, nimble fingers adjusting the wires he had added. He had to stop a few times, finding himself sitting and staring at the device in confusion, momentarily forgetting what he was doing. He knew he was losing his mind. He just hoped he could hold out until Abbey was safe.
He gathered the crystals, using the utility belt around his lightsuit to cinch them all together, splicing the wires from the teleporter and using extra wiring from the extenders he was carrying so that he could use them to push an electrical charge to each of the stones. When he was done, he turned the device on.
The crystals began to vibrate immediately, the pitch so high it burned his ears forcing him to turn the device off again.
“What the frag?” Pik said.
“I think I’m deaf,” Bastion said.
“It needs a little adjustment,” Gant said. “Standby.”
He took a few minutes removing the amplifier and then tried again. This time the resonance was inaudible, though he could see the crystals vibrating rapidly within their tether.
“Is it working?” Pik asked.
“I think we need to find some invisible bad guys to find out,” Benhil replied.
“It’s a logical fallacy to assume that they’re bad,” Pik said. “We don’t know enough about them to make that determination.”
“It’s a logical fallacy,” Bastion said, mimicking Pik. “Where the frag d
id that just come from?”
Pik shrugged. “It’s true.”
“They were trying to kill Queenie the last time we saw them, that’s all I need to know to decide that they’re bad.”
“Works for me,” Benhil agreed.
“What do we do now?” Jequn asked. “We can’t follow them, and Queenie shut us out. We can’t use the teleporter either, since we just hacked it to make the...”
“Shift shitter?” Benhil said.
“Phase fragger?” Bastion suggested.
“Rainbow bomb,” Pik said.
“Rainbow bomb?” Bastion said.
“It looks more like a bomb than a gun, and it’s got all different colors in it.”
“Can you pretend someone melted your mouth closed or something?” Bastion asked.
“Is this really important right now?” Gant asked. “Let’s go with Phase Blaster. As for the teleporter, don’t you have another one?”
“You said the signal wouldn't reach.”
“I disconnected the amplifier from this one. Give me yours.”
Jequn handed him another teleporter. He quickly opened it, exposing the dense circuitry within. He deftly added the amp back to it.
“You know, the minute you turn that thing back on we’re going to be attacked again,” Bastion said.
“Not if we attack first,” Gant replied.
“I’m ready,” Pik said, holding up his mechanical fist.
“How do we know this thing’s going to take us to the right place?” Benhil asked.
“I’m connecting it to the same teleporter that thing came through. At the very least, we’ll get to test the Phase Blaster.” He hefted the bundle of crystals. “Worst case, it won’t work, and we’ll all die.”
“Oh, okay,” Bastion said. “Because I thought it might get really bad. Silly me.”
“Okay, take point and cover me. Joker, you still have rounds, so bring up the rear. The rest of you, stay close.”
“Roger,” the Rejects replied.
Gant placed the teleporter on the ground and switched it on. It remained red, and for a second he was afraid that it wouldn’t connect and they would never make it to Abbey.
Then the light turned green.
“Once more into the fragging time!” Pik shouted, his voice fading as he stepped through.
Gant entered right behind him.
40
“It smells,” Pik said, the moment he came out through the teleporter.
Gant was about to tell him to shut up about the smell again when he breathed in, noticing how strong the stench of sulfur had become. He wrinkled his nose at the same time he hit the switch to activate the Phase Blaster, not taking any chances that they were alone.
Something screeched and jumped at them from the shadows. Pik turned and caught it with his metal hand, crushing it and throwing it down. Another of the reptilian creatures. An entire group of them peeled away from the walls, moving in response to the suddenly active teleporter.
“I don’t see any of those other ones,” Pik said, stepping out of the way so the rest of the Rejects could get through the teleporter. He walked toward the creatures, a big smile on his face. They hissed and pounced, and he knocked them aside, battering them into quick submission.
“Either they aren’t home, or that thing doesn’t work,” Bastion said, coming through. “But I feel like I’m about to get jumped.”
“It may need some adjustment,” Gant said, kneeling in front of the Blaster. He quickly removed the cover while the rest of the Rejects filed in.
“I’ll tell you one thing,” Benhil said, turning the teleporter off. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
Gant wasn’t paying attention to their surroundings. He glanced up now, momentarily freezing in place.
“What the heck?” Erlan said.
The room they were in was unlike anything Gant had ever seen. It was large and round, with hundreds of metallic tendrils that stretched along the walls and ceiling and vanished into regularly spaced holes, carrying pulses of light with them out beyond the chamber. He traced one of them back to a tightly wound bundle in the center of the space. It was composed of thousands of similar but smaller branches, arranged in a pattern that reminded him of a nervous system.
“The reactor,” Jequn said. “The Seedships are similar, though this one is many times the size.”
“See, size does matter,” Pik said.
Gant shook off his amazement, returning his attention to the Blaster. If it wasn’t working the way he had hoped they could be standing in the center of an army and not even know it.
“Queenie, can you hear me?” he said as he adjusted the power outputs. “Queenie, come in.”
They had moved much further into the ship, but she still didn’t or couldn’t respond.
“Gant, I’m not feeling very comfy in here,” Bastion said.
“Form up around me,” Gant said. “Defensive circle. Nothing gets through.”
The Rejects did as he said, going shoulder-to-shoulder with him in the center. There was no sign of any more of the smaller creatures, and no indication they weren’t alone, but none of them trusted it.
He adjusted the outputs and turned the device back on. The pitch of the hum grew louder, and he could see the blur through the translucent crystals confirming their oscillation. For all he knew he was creating high-frequency sound waves and nothing more. Maybe the whole idea was stupid, and he was stupid to have tried it?
The crystals had been raided for a reason, and he was certain they were able to affect spacetime. On their own? What was he doing? What was he thinking?
His heart beat faster, and he looked up at the backs of the other Rejects. He had taken their lives into his hands and confidently assembled the device as though it might actually work. Nevermind that he had frozen multiple times because he forgot what he was doing. Nevermind that he could feel his intellect degrading. In a few weeks, he would be plain, ordinary Gant, no better than the most simple-minded of Terrans. The idea infuriated and terrified him. There had to be a way to stop it. There had to -
“Gant,” Bastion said, shaking his shoulder. “Gant, you with us?”
Gant snapped out of his thoughts, looking up at Bastion. “Huh?”
“Whatever the frag is going on, this isn’t a great time,” Bastion said.
“I. I don’t know if this is going to work,’ he admitted. “I may have led you here to die.”
Bastion’s brow wrinkled. “You always come through, freak-monkey. That’s the only reason I can stand you.”
“Not this time,” Gant said. “I’m wrong. This is wrong.”
Something appeared in front of Uriel, slashing at the Seraphim’s throat. He reacted immediately, bringing his hand up and catching the blade with his seraphsuit, grunting as he was cut. Jequn was beside him, and she slashed her Uin through the attacker, leaving a deep gash in the side of its head.
Ten more of the creatures appeared around them, putting the Rejects into motion. Uin and knives flashed against jagged alien blades, defending against the initial onslaught and managing to kill three of the enemy. The others blinked out and blinked in, one of them sweeping Erlan’s legs out from under him and knocking him down, vanishing and then reappearing positioned over him, blade sinking toward his chest.
Benhil shot the creature in the head, knocking him off the younger pilot. Another target swung its blade at him, the edge slamming into his helmet, digging in deep but not making it through. Uriel brought his Uin through its arm, removing it.
More of the creatures blinked in and out around them, making a coordinated effort to approach the defensive circle.
“Gant, keep trying,” Bastion said. “Pull some of the crystals or something. Whatever you can think of. I know you can do it. I believe in you.”
Gant looked down at the Blaster. His hands were shaking. His body was weak. For the first time in years, he didn’t believe in himself.
41
King
led them into the hole in the wall, into a smaller room and through another hole and into what appeared to be a wide access shaft of some kind, maybe for airflow from the source pumps to the outer portions of the Shardship. The strangest thing about it was that these walls were still smooth, with no obvious means to climb without a great deal of effort. And yet, as they reached it, the King stepped out onto nothing and remained without tumbling to his death. He motioned for Abbey and Trinity to do the same.
Abbey followed the creature, trusting that if he had wanted to kill her, he would have already. She put her feet out onto the invisible platform, looking down at the drop beneath as she stepped forward. Trinity was more hesitant, but the army of soldiers cajoled her out onto the shelf, herding her forward.
“Who are you?” Abbey asked, looking back to the alien. “Where did you come from?”
King looked at her, his beady black eyes unblinking. “We are the Asura,” he said, his voice always entering her mind directly. “We are carried from beyond the Veil. Called by the lure of the Dark. We hate this place, but we are trapped. You will set us free.”
“You attacked us. Why?”
“We are hungry. The Dark has sustained us for many shifts, and yet we cannot be sustained eternally by the Dark alone.”
They began to drop, descending slowly on a hidden platform. “I don’t understand. What’s the Veil?”
King put his hand out. The platform shimmered beneath them, coming into view. It was round and metallic, a technology more advanced than their own.
“The Veil binds everything. All places. All times. Once, we sought only to live in peace. But the call of the Dark is a call that cannot be denied. We want it. We need it. We cannot ignore it. The Dark lifts the Veil.” He paused. “I can sense the Dark out there, beyond this prison. I can hear its whispers, even if it does not sing.”
“Prison? You mean this ship?”
“I mean this place. I mean this time. You will set us free. You will deliver us to the Dark. I can feel the power inside you. You will be my Queen. You will help me seek the Dark. You will be Mother to the Asura, and we will claim this place and time as our own. That is the fate of all worlds that sing to us through the Dark. That will be the fate of yours as well.”